


In the Light of the Lamp-Post

by Politzania



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Kidfic, Young!Tony, boring grownup stuff, escaping, kid!Sharon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 11:25:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17703431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Politzania/pseuds/Politzania
Summary: Little Sharon Carter escapes from a boring grownup party and meets a new friend.Square: S1Rating: GeneralWarnings: NonePairing:   Sharon Carter & Tony Stark  (platonic)Summary:   Little Sharon Carter escapes from a boring grownup party and meets a new friend.





	In the Light of the Lamp-Post

**Author's Note:**

> For ameliacrowley over on Tumblr, whose sweet comments and abundant likes brighten my day!

Sharon didn’t understand why they called it a garden party when no one was even in the garden. They were all standing around on a big patio outside a big house, talking and talking and talking, just like grownups do. There weren’t any other kids here, either. Mommy had apologized to a couple of people already for bringing Sharon, explaining that the babysitter had called in sick at the last minute and she didn’t want to disrespect her hosts by not coming. 

As for Sharon, well, she was trying to be good, she really was, but there wasn’t anything to do except stand around. It was getting late and she was bored. The little sandwiches she’d been given were long gone, and her new dress (which was stiff and itchy) didn’t have pockets, so she hadn’t been able to bring any toys along. She tried making up funny nicknames for the grownups she saw -- Mister Mustache, Lady Bigbottom -- but it wasn’t much of a game without Daddy playing along. 

Daddy had gone away again, back to somewhere called the Middle East. Mommy said she was proud of him, but Sharon had heard her crying in the night. In fact, Sharon kind of wanted to cry now, just thinking about it. How they’d had to move all the way across the country, away from her friends. So she hid under the long white tablecloth of the table she and Mommy were standing next to, and after a moment, walked way down to the other end of the table, and peeked out. 

The garden was right there! And there was a big group of pine trees off to one side, standing tall and proud. They reminded her of the book that Daddy had been reading to her, where a little girl like her had gone into a wardrobe and ended up in Narnia. There was even a lamp-post down at the end, and a patch of gravel that looked a little like snow. Mommy had said that they could finish reading the book together, but Sharon didn’t want to. That book was for Daddy and her, and she could wait til he got home. Every night she looked at the map in the front of the book and told herself the parts of the story they’d read so far, just to make sure she didn’t forget. 

Sharon missed her daddy. She missed him a lot. Maybe if she walked into those trees, she might end up in another world, too. Maybe even the world where her Daddy was. Sharon ran out from under the table into the shade of the pines, the fallen needles getting into her fancy shoes as she ducked under the branches. 

Darting from one lengthening shadow to the next, she quickly crossed to the other end of the miniature forest. Sharon took a deep breath and closed her eyes before exiting into the light of the setting sun, pretending as hard as she could that her Daddy would be standing there, arms held open wide with a happy smile on his face. 

“Oof!” The exclamation startled her as she bumped into someone, knocking them both into the grass. Sharon opened her eyes to see a boy a whole lot older than her, with brown curly hair and a bewildered expression on his face. “Who the he...ck are you?” he asked, climbing back to his feet. 

“I’m Sharon. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you. I wasn’t looking and.... ” she stopped in the middle of her hurried apology to sniff back a few tears. She wasn’t hurt -- at least she didn’t think so -- but she wanted to cry anyways. It had been silly to think that magic was real, that she could wish hard enough to have her Daddy suddenly appear in front of her. 

“Hey, now,” the boy replied softly, squatting down to her level with a concerned look, “It’s okay. I’m running away from that boring old party, too.” He smiled, then held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Sharon. My name’s Tony.” 

He helped her up, then brushed off his clothes. She did the same, and her lip started to tremble again as she saw the dirt and grass stains on her new dress. Mommy was supposed to take a picture of her to send to Daddy, but they’d been running late and there wasn’t time. Now it was ruined. Everything was ruined.

“Shh . . . don’t cry, Sharon. It’ll be all right.” The gentle words and kind eyes of her new friend made her feel a little better. “Why don’t you come with me and help me set up my telescope before it gets dark?” 

Tony held out his hand, and Sharon looked at it doubtfully for a moment. She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere with a stranger. But Tony wasn’t a stranger anymore, not really. She knew his name and besides, he was just a boy who was as bored with the grown-up’s party as she was. 

“You know what a telescope is for, don’t you?” he asked. 

“Sure,” she replied. “You can see stuff that’s far away with it, like the stars and the planets and the moon. There’s a big one near where we used to live. It’s called the Griffith ‘Servatory.” 

Tony laughed, but it wasn’t a mean laugh, more one of happy surprise. “You’re exactly right, Sharon and guess what? I’ve been to that observatory too! And while my telescope isn’t nearly that big, I can still use it to see a lot of neat stuff, like the craters on the moon during its perigee.”

“What’s a perigee?” She had taken his hand, and they walked along the stone path across the gravel. 

“That’s when the moon is closest in its orbit to the earth. I should be able to get some good pictures out here. Much better than in the city.” 

Sharon nodded; she could hardly see any stars through her bedroom window now. “There’s too many lights and they’re on all the time, aren’t they? I liked where we used to live better, even though we’re closer to Aunt Peggy now. We drove out here with her today.” 

Tony gave another surprised chuckle. “You have an Aunt Peggy? So do I. Well, she’s not really my aunt, she’s a friend of my father’s. They’ve known each other forever.” 

“Is she old, like my Aunt Peggy?” Before Tony could reply, they heard a familiar voice. 

“I feel I should take offence at that question, even if it is quite true.” 

Sharon turned around to see her aunt coming up to join them. She grabbed Tony’s hand and dragged him over, her shoes crunching in the gravel before reaching the lawn again. “Look, Aunt Peggy! I made a new friend! His name is Tony and he has a telescope he’s going to show me.” 

“Well, isn’t that nice of him,” Aunt Peggy’s eyes were twinkling, even as she wore a slight frown. “But you know, Sharon, you ought to have said something to your mother before running off. We were worried about you.” 

Sharon bowed her head and kicked at the ground in shame. “I’m sorry. I got bored and just wanted to get away for a little bit. I knew I shouldn’t interrupt when grownups were talking, so I just .... went.” 

“I was going to bring her right back, Aunt Peggy,“ Tony explained, sounding a bit guilty himself.

“Wait a minute,” Sharon burst in, “your Aunt Peggy is my Aunt Peggy?” She looked at them both in astonishment. “That means we’re cousins, sort of, doesn’t it?” 

“I suppose it does, kiddo.” Tony said, squeezing her hand. “How about we all head back now?” 

“That sounds like a capital plan, my boy.” Aunt Peggy agreed. “Would you do the honors?” Sharon giggled as he held out an elbow to his aunt, and the three of them made their way back to the party.


End file.
